Soul Eater
by Amarxlen
Summary: Their world has perished in darkness. Sora is the Keyblade's chosen one. Kairi's heart is missing. And Riku is falling head first into darkness, taking along the girl who is willing to brave anything for him.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello, dear readers! It's been a while, but I finally worked up the nerve to begin posting my first multi-chaptered fanfiction. So far, I have five chapters written, and hope to be able to keep up with updating. Also, I have taken a few liberties with the Kingdom Hearts storyline, as to make this story fit in better. This will be a telling of Riku's side of Kingdom Hearts, including the scenes that are included in the game, but changed to include my OC. I hope I've written her to be convincing and non Mary-Sue, I know I personally am very critical of OCs. Reviews are welcome, flames will be ignored. Now, without further ado, chapter one of Soul Eater.**

Chapter 1

Way earlier than I would have liked, I was woken up by a loud and insistent pounding. As I clawed my way out of sleep, the voice shouting through my door became clearer.

"Natsumi, wake up!" The voice was familiar, and not altogether unwelcome, although it certainly seemed shrill in the early morning air. This order was accentuated with more door pounding. I grumbled into my pillow and pulled my blankets closer.

"Natsumi!" He was positively whining at this point and I vacillated between satisfaction at ignoring him and irritation at his persistence.

"Sora, wait," a quieter and just as familiar voice said. The pair mumbled behind my door for a moment and I strained to hear what they were saying. Their whispered consensus made me uneasy and I sat up in bed just as they threw open the door and rushed in.

"Wake up," Sora shouted again, throwing himself onto my bed and yanking the comforter away from me.

"I am awake," I groaned. My eyes left the brunet to find Riku standing behind him. "Who let you in anyways?" The irritation I felt at being woken up early had begun to fade once I had seen that the numbers on my alarm clock read 10:27.

"Your parents," Riku told me in a matter of fact voice and I closed my eyes. Of course they would. They were parents who didn't believe in sleeping in late, and probably would have soon been up in my room themselves if I had slept much longer. Still a little bleary eyed from sleep, I rubbed my face and yawned.

"Natsumi," Sora said in what we referred to as his indoor voice, "we're going to the island." That perked me up a bit and the boys seemed to be able to tell. The island we were going to was very, very special for the four of us.

"We'll be down at the dock," Riku told me, grabbing Sora by the arm and pulling him out the door. "Hurry," Sora urged, grinning at me. I smiled back, surprised that he thought to pull the door closed behind him. I took a moment to stretch before I got up to get ready. Quickly tugging on my shorts and a tank top from the floor that hadn't yet begun to smell funny, I then ran to the bathroom to brush my teeth.

With that finished, I rushed down the stairs, jumping the last three and landing softly on my feet. Grabbing a piece of toast off the table, I gave my parents a hurried good bye and let them know that I would eat more with the gang. They used to argue with me when I gave them this explanation, but that was before they knew how much food the boys actually seemed to eat. After that they decided that I was well taken care of. With the piece of toast in my mouth, I tugged my hair into a ponytail as I pushed open the door and blinked in the sudden sunlight.

"Natsumi!" A third familiar voice called out, completing our foursome. My eyes adjusted slowly until I could see her waving at me and I waved back.

"Hey Kairi," I said walking closer, noticing that Sora was bouncing with excitement and impatience.

"Are you ready?" He asked, unable to contain himself. He tugged a little bit at my wrist. For a moment I just stood there, using eating my toast as an excuse to keep quiet. I really just wanted to tease him and he squirmed under my gaze.

My toast finished, I said, "Yes, Sora, I'm ready." He grinned widely and tugged at my wrist again. "Let's go then!" He pulled me with him as he began to run towards the docks and before we got too far, I grabbed Kairi's wrist, who in turn grabbed Riku. In a chain we ran onto the docks where Sora released my hand and jumped down into his boat. Mindful of the waves his leap had caused, the rest of us climbed more carefully into our boats.

Once upon a time I had been too scared to climb into my own boat, having never learned how to swim and terrified that I would fall into the waiting ocean below. I looked up at Riku in his boat, paddling after Sora who had already taken off across the water. The sun glinted off his hair, blinding me momentarily. It had been him that let me ride along in his boat, and him again that taught me how to swim. It was probably inevitable that I developed a crush on him and still harbored one to this day.

"C'mon Natsu," Kairi brought me back down to earth as she always did and I rushed after the three of them. My arms had just started to burn with the exertion of rowing to the play island when the dock was close enough to tie my boat to.

I scrambled up onto the dock and looked around for my three friends. Kairi was easy enough to spot, waiting for me at the end of the dock, but Riku and Sora were no where to be seen.

"Where'd they go?" I asked the red head, a bit irritated that they had taken off so quick. I knew the raft was near completion—Riku had told me that it would be ready in three days—but without knowing what they were off doing, I had no way of knowing what still needed to be done.

"Hm?" Kairi looked up from the Thalassa lucky charm she was almost finished threading. It had taken her close to a week and a half, partly because the shells were delicate and kept breaking, but mostly because they were so difficult to find. The charm itself needed five shells and Kairi had diligently searched the island for them until she found enough. It was because they were so rare that they were supposed to be lucky. "Oh, Sora ran off to get supplies. I think he's in that tree up there." She freed her hand and pointed to one of the few trees on the beach of the play island. Sure enough, Sora was shimmying awkwardly up the trunk and had just reached the leaves when I saw his bright red shorts.

"And Riku went to check on the raft. He said we might even be able to leave sooner than we thought." My eyes widened and I looked off to where the raft was hidden, though I could not see it from where I stood. "So I figured I might as well finish my lucky charm," she said and went back to threading her charm. "Who knows? We might need it." Her words filled me with a sudden foreboding. Up until then there had never been any doubt in my mind that everything was going to go exactly according to plan. Now I wondered whether this plan was actually a good one and if we had thought everything through.

"I'm gonna go see what Riku's up to," I told her and began walking off, trying to shake of the uneasy feeling in my stomach.

"Let me know how it's going!"

"Sure thing," I called back to her as I walked across the island. It didn't take long to reach the place where we had hidden the raft. Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie still sometimes came out to the island and, while we were on friendly enough terms with them, there was an unspoken agreement that the raft was just for the four of us. So we kept it hidden in a corner of the island where they usually didn't come and so far they'd given us no reason to think they had found it.

In the sand it was easy to sneak up behind Riku where he knelt down next to the raft, double checking that everything was secure and the raft wouldn't fall apart on us on the way to far away places. That was another thing we didn't quite think through. Our destination had always been Kairi's home, but we had no idea where that actually was. I thought about this as I watched Riku work.

At fifteen his muscles were already well defined and I struggled to recall exactly when he had become the teenager in front of me. It had happened gradually obviously, and if anything, the change was in me and how I saw him. Suddenly stronger, cockier, and more mischievous than he had ever been. I wondered, not for the first time, how he saw me, if it made any difference to him that I had outgrown my old dresses and wore my blonde hair differently than I used to. Even with Kairi's encouragements, I never had enough confidence to ask him about it.

"It's just about ready, right?" I'd been silent behind him until then, but my voice still didn't startle him. He just finished adjusting a knot on the raft and then stood and turned to face me.

"Just about," he said, his aqua eyes twinkling at me. Try as he might to act cool, the raft was his idea and nobody was more excited about it than him. "We're just waiting on supplies from Sora." I nodded and smiled.

"I saw him up the tree grabbing coconuts. Like a monkey," I said, miming the way Sora had shimmied up the tree and stretched out his body as far as he dared for the dangling coconut. Riku laughed good naturedly and my heart fluttered with the sound of it. Suddenly, Kairi's advice came back to me: _Just tell him, Natsu, he's your best friend! Who better to confide in?_ My heart beat faster as I thought about it. I had an opportunity in front of me, we were alone for once and he was cheerful because the raft was done. I could just—

"Riku?" I said tentatively. He seemed to sense the shift in my mood and took a step closer to me.

"Natsumi," he said softly in acknowledgment. I reached up and nervously ran my fingers along my collarbone, looking down at my tennis shoes.

"There's something…something I want to tell you." I looked up, gathering my courage, ready to tell him what only one other person in the world knew.

"Riku! Natsumi!" I cringed and whirled towards Sora, despairing. I had been so close! "I've got the supplies," he told us, setting down his contribution on the raft. "Now we can get to the important part!" Riku raised an eyebrow at this, and I too wondered what could be more important that the food that we were going to take with us on our journey.

"What do you mean the important part?" I asked, now a bit irritated at his interruption even though I knew he had no way of knowing exactly what he'd interrupted. To him, it probably looked like we were talking about the raft.

"A name! We haven't named the raft yet." Riku and I exchanged a glance as the brunet bounced around, hands clenched into fists, face open and earnest.

"Sora…" I said slowly. "It doesn't really need a name. It's a raft."

"Aw, come on, Natsumi. Riku thinks it needs a name too, right Riku?" We both looked to the silver haired teen, who looked a little upset at being put on the spot. He raised his hands up at us as if in surrender.

"If I was gonna name it…" He spoke just as slowly as I had a moment before. He surveyed the raft for a moment. "I suppose I would name it Highwind," he finally said. "What would you name it?" Sora looked a little taken aback at the question before answering brightly—

"Excalibur!" Then they both turned to me. Now it was my turn to raise my hands in mock surrender. I didn't like either of those names, but since I couldn't come up with anything better I decided to withhold my vote.

"You two can settle this between yourselves," I told them.

"A race it is," Sora exclaimed, smacking his palm with his fist.

"Alright," Riku agreed and, after making sure the supplies and the raft were well hidden, we began to walk towards the other side of the island where Kairi, and their race course, were. The two of them discussed the terms of the race—what the winner would receive and so on—on our way there, and for the most part I tuned them out. But I couldn't help the way I stiffened when I heard Riku's voice say that the winner not only gets to name the raft, but also gets to share a paopu with Kairi.

I said nothing, but felt the heat in my face, which wasn't from the sun. In our unofficial tally, Riku and Sora had each won their share of races, but Riku still held the lead. I turned this over in my mind, wondering if this meant that Riku _wanted_ to share a paopu with Kairi. It had never occurred to me that he might want to share a paopu with somebody…well, other than me.

Years and years ago, when all of us were little, just after Kairi had come to the islands, Riku and I had gotten into the biggest argument we'd ever had and still hadn't had one that rivaled it. He and Sora had been spending a lot of time with Kairi, welcoming her to the island, showing her around. They both promised that they were just being nice, but I still couldn't help feeling like they liked her better and wanted to spend more time with her than me. It hurt me that both of them liked her, but it hurt more with Riku. I hadn't realized it yet, but even then I had feelings for him.

One day, I got so mad that I yelled at them both just as they were going to meet with her. I didn't remember exactly what I said to them, but it had been terrible, meant to hurt them like they were hurting me. It had been terrible enough that Sora started crying and that more than anything was what upset Riku. He yelled back at me until we were both hoarse and I was crying too, and finally I ran off, sure that this was the final straw and they would never want to see me again.

To my surprise, it was Riku who came and found me (though he admitted later it was only because Sora made him, he was still very upset with me after all) alone in the secret place that until then had belonged to just the three of us. I had sniffled at him and told him to go away, but he didn't. He sat down next to me and it was then that I saw what he had in his hands. A yellow, star shaped fruit. I wiped my face with my dress and stared at him until he spoke.

"It's for us to share," he said. My eyes widened. The legend of the paopu fruit was one that every Destiny Islands kid grew up with—that whenever two people shared one, their destinies became intertwined. Even as kids, we knew what a big deal that was.

"Riku," I sniffled again, wondering if he really meant to share it with me.

"To prove to you that just because Kairi's here now, doesn't mean I'm forgetting about you," he said sternly, fixing me with a stare that even at such a young age was disquieting. I nodded at him. "And Sora too," he added. I nodded again.

Satisfied, he handed me the paopu and I took it from him, staring at it in awe for a minute. Under his careful gaze I took my first bite of the only paopu I had ever eaten. I had speculated a lot about what one would taste like and expected it to be sweet. Instead, there was a sharp tang to it that made me pucker my lips at first before I decided I actually did like it. Swallowing the bite, I handed the fruit back to him. I half expected that he wouldn't actually take a bite out of it, that he changed his mind and decided sharing a paopu with me wasn't such a good idea after all.

My worries were for nothing, he took a larger bite than I had, eyes widening slightly at the taste of it. It was because of that I knew this was his first paopu, too. Together we devoured it, our hands and faces becoming sticky as it dripped on us and our clothes. Afterwards, we washed up the best we could in the freshwater on the island and Riku convinced me to go meet Kairi. With surprise, I realized I actually liked the girl, even as I was fully prepared to hate everything about her. She won me over and with chagrin I found that she wormed her way into my heart and my life and became one of my best friends.

Even so, I now felt the old jealousy resurface at the thought of Riku sharing a paopu with her. I found myself wondering what would happen if he shared a paopu with two people. Would the paopu he had shared with the first person suddenly become null and void? Would I be cast aside as his destiny changed to intertwine with Kairi's?

"Natsu?" Her voice suddenly broke through my thoughts. While I had been daydreaming, Sora and Riku had begun their race and Kairi looked at me in worry. "You were spacing out for a while. Are you okay," she asked softly, looking up at me with concern.

"Did they tell you…? They decided, well, Riku did… The winner gets to share a paopu with you?"

"Oh," her voice was soft and I looked down at her pleadingly. "They did and," her voice got suddenly stronger, "if Riku wins, I won't Natsu, I won't do that to you." I sat down next to her with relief. She really was a much better friend than I had first thought of her. Pulling my knees to my chest and turning my eyes to the boys' race I sighed, "Thank you, Kairi." I felt her small hand on my shoulder before she returned to working on her charm. We both knew that only solved one of my problems.

"Do you think Riku will win?" She asked absently, pulling the thread through her last Thalassa shell.

The boys were on their way back and I began to answer Kairi when Sora made a misstep and a section of the rickety wooden platform fell, taking him with it.

"Now I do," I said. She looked up at my comment, lips down in a thoughtful frown as she noticed where Sora had landed. At the triumphant look on Riku's face, it seemed he knew he had won too. Moments later, he had reached the sand where Kairi and I sat and stood there, waiting for Sora. The brunet climbed up onto the plateau moments later and grinned at us sheepishly.

"I lost…" He looked up at Riku and his grin fell. "Well, winner gets to share a paopu with Kairi, congrats." He sat down on the sand next to me and shook his hair out, showering me with cool ocean water. Kairi and I exchanged a look, but looked up quickly when Riku began to chuckle. As we watched, he laughed harder.

"The paopu thing was just a joke, guys. You should have seen your faces." I looked at him, appalled at the joke.

"Haha, very funny," I spat out at him, not amused at all. The three of them looked at me with wide eyes, probably wondering exactly what had gotten into me. My cheeks flushed and I looked away. "Sorry," I mumbled before running off, not realizing until I got there that my legs had been carrying me to the Secret Place.

"I should just tell him." I murmured to myself. But if he had really forgotten that we shared that paopu fruit… Or had the whole thing really just been a stupid joke? "Dumb Riku," I said and slid awkwardly down the rough rock wall and to the floor. I closed my eyes and said again, "I should just tell him."

My breath came in short bursts, in and out through my mouth. I was running from something. The darkness was so complete that I could barely see where I was going. My surroundings were unfamiliar, what I could discern of them anyways. I didn't know what I was running from, or where I was, just that if I got caught all was lost.

The shadows flickered and twitched in the corners, pulsating with a steady breathing as if they were alive. Those shadows filled me with fear and I ran faster. Looking over my shoulder I saw that the shadows were fast closing in on what little light there was. They consumed it, lusted for it. I ran even faster.

Suddenly, a silhouette appeared before me, their silver hair identifying even through the darkness before I could see his face. I was relieved.

"Riku!" I called. He turned around and smiled at me sadly, repentant. I was confused at his expression—what could cause such sadness to run across his features? My foot caught on the uneven ground and he tried to dart forward to catch me. I looked up to see that he'd barely taken a step before the darkness captured his ankles. He was only just able to stay standing after swaying precariously for a moment.

Fearfully, I turned my head to see that the darkness had also wrapped around my own ankles. I kicked at it, my eyes wide, but it clung eagerly. I looked back to Riku as he continued to struggle with his own darkness.

"Riku!" For a split second we both stopped fighting with our darkness. It quickly took advantage of our pause and squirmed higher. I looked worriedly over my shoulder and again began to kick at the darkness.

Even though it started at the same time Riku's darkness had almost taken him over. My eyes widened as the darkness opened to completely swallow him.

"RIKU!" The darkness cleared slowly as I yelled his name hysterically, completely ignoring the darkness that continued to creep up my legs. I'd never forget the look on his face when it took him. Triumphant…then terrified.

The darkness rose to my waist and I continued to struggle with it, pushing the thought of Riku's vanishing to the back of my mind, only allowing it to remind me what would happen should I fail to break free. Suddenly, a figure appeared before me. Fully distressed, I lashed out against the figure in black. Slowly his face came into view and I couldn't stifle a gasp.

"R-Riku?" I whispered, wondering how he had managed to escape the shadows. They had taken him right in front of me, but he only stretched his hand towards me, as if silently confirming that yes, it was him.

But there was something strange about this Riku, something that I shied away from, even as the darkness crawled higher up my body. Riku waved his hand at me and I shook my head at him. He frowned thoughtfully, and abruptly he wasn't Riku anymore, but somebody new, somebody terrifying. His amber eyes blazed against his dark skin and he sneered at me. My eyes widened in fear and he clenched his fist and pulled it towards himself. Too late, I realized that this gesture was pulling the darkness up and over my head. It took the shape of a tunnel and through it I was able to see that Riku was himself again.

"Riku!" I called to him for the last time as the darkness completely engulfed me.

I was falling, falling through darkness and away from him. My travel was completely silent; no wind in my ears and no other sounds either, everything stifled in the crushing blackness. I closed my eyes and willed away the tears, prepared to hit the bottom when—

I was suddenly woken by a loud roaring noise bursting into the Secret Place. There was no time for grogginess as I watched the shadows begin to flicker and twitch, forming into solid beings that shivered and walked towards me. I jumped up and ran towards the entrance of the cave, away from the shadows.

I ran through the tunnel, pinching myself on the arm, unwilling to believe that these creatures could have followed me out of my dream. The roaring of the wind got louder as I reached the exit of the tunnel, the wind whipping my hair up in a frenzy. I gasped in sudden pain and looked down to find one of the shadow creatures latched onto my leg, its nails digging into the skin and drawing blood. Panicked, I kicked at it, trying anything to shake it loose. Anything but touch it.

With one final kick I managed to get my leg free, and with that motion I also caught a glimpse of the sky. My eyes widened at the giant black orb hovering above the island, crackling with energy. Without quite knowing why, I pinpointed this as the center of all the chaos. But I had stood frozen for too long.

The shadows advanced on me, more of them clawing at my already injured leg and inflicting fresh injuries on my other leg. I kicked at them frantically and decided that it seemed as though it wasn't helping at all. My only thought was that I had to leave and get home and leave the island and the raft to the destruction of the creatures and the dark energy. My footsteps echoed on the wooden planks of the dock and I was untying my boat and had almost finished before I noticed the other three boats floating there.

A flash of irritation ran through me. What were those idiots thinking, coming out to the island during a storm like this? There was no way I could leave, not while my friends were still on the island and at the mercy of the shadow creatures. The water was too choppy to leave my boat as it was and I quickly tied it up again. I turned towards the island, relieved that the creatures seemed to have not followed me onto the dock.

I took the moment of reprieve to search the shore, but I couldn't find anything in the night or the swirling debris. Frustrated, I yelled into the night.

"Riku! Sora! Kairi!" The sound of my scream seemed to rouse the shadows. They rose from the deck as though they had been a part of it until that moment and surrounded me. Realizing I had to act fast and gathering my determination, I ran through them off the dock, thinking that perhaps the wooden swords we used as kids in our game of pirates could be of some use if I could get to it.

I began to run towards where we had left them in the hut by the waterfall, dodging the monsters on my way. As I approached the hut, I ran in and grabbed the closest sword I could find, not checking whose it was before I made for the door again. In the darkness, a single splotch of red stood out.

"Sora," I cried and ran out towards him. The red spot stopped and began to run to me.

"Natsumi," he said when he got close enough to me to see who I was. When he reached me I grabbed his forearms, the wooden sword pressed against his skin, and he grabbed mine in response. He glanced down at the sword and then back up at me. I felt as though the wind could rip us apart at any moment.

"Where are Riku and Kairi?" He had to yell to be heard over the roaring wind. Yellow eyes peered at us out of the darkness, and I saw shadows separate and quiver towards us.

"I don't know, I thought you all left!" Sora nodded at this, though the look on his face was as troubled as I felt. Staring into the darkness behind me, his eyes widened suddenly.

"There," he shouted, releasing my left arm to point across the island. I whirled around, careful to keep a grip on him and ever aware of the shadows that surrounded us. I couldn't spot what it was Sora had found, but he began to pull me forward without waiting for my response. As we ran across the island, dodging creatures and debris, I stared hard at the small separate section of island he was leading me to. I swiped at the creatures with the sword when I got the opportunity, but the wood just seemed to pass right through them. Finally, I could see the gleam of silver hair, and it seemed stupid to me now that this wasn't where I immediately went to search for my friends.

"What are they?" I wondered aloud, another creature leaping at me and, thankfully, missing. We crossed the bridge quickly, the familiar sound of our footsteps lost.

"Riku!" Sora yelled as we stepped foot onto the sand. I was now clearly able to see Riku, his hair whipping around his face, which was bright with excitement, even as our home was being ripped to pieces around him.

"Where's Kairi?" I yelled.

"I thought she was with you," Sora added. Even though we seemed safe on this part of the island, I couldn't bring myself to release his hand. Riku paused for a moment, staring at the two of us.

"The door…has opened."

"What?" I chewed my lip, confused by Riku's strange statement.

"The door has opened Sora, Natsumi," he said urgently, like it was something we needed to understand or the consequences would be disastrous. "Now we can go to the outside world!"

I froze. I was sure I hadn't heard him right over the wind.

"What are you talking about?" Sora demanded to know. But it had suddenly clicked in my head. This was how we could leave.

"The outside world, Sora!" My excitement threatened to bubble over, my lips were stretched in a wide smile.

"But we've gotta find Kairi," he protested. The look he fixed us with was incredulous, and I felt ashamed to have forgotten her. My hand slipped out of his and I looked to Riku.

"Kairi's coming with us," he hollered impatiently, offering his hand to me. I had no reason to believe him, other than that he was my friend and I trusted him wholeheartedly. I grabbed his gloved hand decisively. "Once we step through, we might not be able to come back. We may never see our parents again. There's no turning back, but this may be our only chance." My heart sank. Sure, I wanted to leave, with all my heart, but I had never thought of it as something permanent. At the end of the journey there had always been a welcome home, familiar faces.

Sensing my hesitance, he turned to look at me, giving me a reassuring smile and a squeeze of my hand. The comfort was there and gone in a flash, but it was still enough to strengthen me. I couldn't squander what may be our only chance to explore what was out there.

"Sora, come with us," I pleaded. His apprehension looked to be much harder to stifle than my own. He looked around us, at the island that was falling apart before our eyes.

"We can't let fear stop us," Riku told him. "I'm not afraid of the darkness." The words sounded like a challenge, another race for them to run, another chance to see who of the two was better. I stood by Riku's side, wondering if this challenge would be enough to entice Sora.

Suddenly darkness erupted around our feet and the fear that had been kept at bay by Riku's confidence resurfaced. This was too much like my dream and my heart began to race. I looked up at Riku and the serene way he offered Sora his hand calmed me. This wasn't like my dream at all. We were not being separated. The three of us were together and whenever we got to where we were going, we would find Kairi, too, and it would be the four of us. Just like it had always been.

Sora reached out to join us, but as soon as he did, darkness pooled around his feet as well. He stumbled a bit, and looked up at us quickly, stretching out his hand as far as it would go. I tried to step forward to offer him help, but the darkness was wrapped around my ankles, holding me in place. I was unable to release the wooden sword, scared I might need it later. All I could do was hope that Sora could reach Riku in time.

The darkness inched up, higher and higher, wrapping around the three of us. My stomach dropped and my heart skipped a beat. I realized, just before the darkness completely overtook us, that Sora would not be able to take Riku's hand.

"Sora!"

Riku and I plummeted through the darkness, my stomach in my throat. My ears rang with the sudden silence and I closed my eyes tightly. Everything was hitting me at once: Sora, on the island, Kairi, lost, our home, destroyed. The only thing left was Riku. With a start, I realized that the sword had been yanked from my grip. My free hand searched the darkness for him and found his other hand quickly. I relaxed a little bit with the relief that he, at least, was still here.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I came back to consciousness slowly, my first awareness that everything hurt. My second was that my bed felt like it was made of rocks and my comforter was missing. I opened my eyes and saw above me a sky clear of clouds, but still gray in color. Sitting up, I realized that my bed felt like it was made of rocks because I had indeed been lying on rocks.

Finally, I remembered what had happened last night. I closed my eyes again, the memories playing like a motion picture behind my eyelids. The storm, the creatures, finding Sora, finding Riku, the horrible realization that Kairi was missing. Then, taking Riku's hand and falling into darkness.

"Riku," the gasp escaped my lips. I jumped up, every inch of my body protesting the sudden movement, and spun around in a circle, searching for Riku.

"Riku!" How could this have happened? We had been together, fingers intertwined and now… How could he be gone too? I saw water a short distance away from me and grudgingly admitted that I had at least been lucky enough to stay dry. Looking around, it seemed as though I was in a crevasse, wide and extremely deep. But in front of me, there hovered several rock platforms, leading up and out of the crevasse.

I stared at them for a long moment in confusion, then looked around the canyon again. Riku, Sora, and Kairi were gone. I was alone. Wherever I was, was new, strange, and possibly dangerous. I had to continue on. It was clear Riku wasn't down here on my level, but perhaps he was above.

Stepping forward, I prepared myself to jump and grab onto the ledge. The pain in my body was still there, but I knew, when pressed, my arms would be able to hoist me up onto the platform. I was just about to jump when I saw a brown shape in the clear water. The sword! I plunged my hands into the water and grabbed it out. Looking it over, it seemed to be in perfect condition and in the light I could see the name carved into the handle was Sora's. My grip tightened. I would be damned before I let go of the sword. I'd keep it with me, and when I found Sora again, I would give it back to him.

With new determination, I jumped into the air, my fingertips barely catching the edge of the closest platform. I couldn't stop my body from swinging into the side of the platform, knocking the wind out of me. As much as I wanted to hang there in pain, I knew the longer I waited, the harder it would be to pull myself up. Groaning a little, I made my elbows bend, and the motion brought me up just enough to see over the platform.

My eyes widened in shock and delight. I heaved myself up onto the platform and ran forward, sword still clutched in my hand.

"Riku!" I dropped to my knees beside him, quickly looking him over. He didn't seem to have any injuries or anything wrong except the fact that he was unconscious. I shook his shoulder, trying to wake him up gently despite the terror that I felt and the need for him to wake up that very second.

"Riku," I said and his eyes fluttered open. Relief flooded through me. "Hey, Riku, look at me." He sat up slowly and did as I asked.

"Natsumi…" He looked around, taking in our surroundings much in the way I had—wary vigilance, shock about the floating platforms, and finally resolve. "Where are we?" he asked, his eyes once more on me. I shook my head.

"I don't know." I reached for his hand, needing to reassure myself that he was real. "I was worried I lost you too." His eyes softened. He squeezed my hand, once more comforting me and then the moment was gone.

"We have to figure out where we are," he told me, rising to his feet without so much as a wince. I mimicked his actions and together we looked at the next platform. We exchanged a look and with a short stretch, he jumped up. His fingertips gripped the platform and he hauled himself up. A few moments later, he popped his head over the rock and motioned for me to follow him.

I threw the sword up and over the edge before jumping up to follow it. My fingers latched onto the edge. This time when I pulled myself up, Riku helped me. His hands wrapped around my upper arms and when I was high enough up, my waist. He set me down on the platform. My heart slammed a beat against my rib cage: Was it just me, or did he hold on a moment longer than necessary? My face turned pink and only went pinker when he noticed. I cleared my throat and he looked away.

Abruptly, he leaned over and picked up wooden sword I had tossed up. He surveyed it, his eyes finding the name just as mine had. His face hardened and he looked at me again.

"We'll find them," I promised. The words fell from my lips with far more surety than I felt, but still Riku didn't relax. I stepped forward and almost reached out to him but the look on his face put up a barrier I couldn't reach past.

"Let's go," he said. He turned away and jumped up to the next platform and I followed him. Higher and higher we went, until my muscles had loosened and the pain wasn't as prominent. Finally we reached the top and Riku paused to let me catch up. I rubbed at my arms, which were relentlessly sore. Then I looked up, at what was behind Riku.

My eyes widened. In front of us stood an enormous peach bricked castle, although I used the term castle loosely. It looked nothing like the places that housed princesses in my children's books. Parts of it were crumbling and other parts were held up only by metal supports. Nevertheless, it still looked very grand.

"Where are we?" I screamed in desperation, missing Sora and Kairi. I knew that if the four of us had been together, this adventure might actually be fun. Instead I felt scared and tired.

"You're in Hollow Bastion," an unfamiliar voice said behind us. We whirled around to find…nobody. There was nothing behind us except a dark space, swirling in nearly the same way as the orb that had overseen the destruction of our home. I took a wary step back.

"Who's there?" Riku called out, voice steady. A chuckle came from the direction of the portal and the sound of it set my nerves on a high precipice. Seconds later, the owner of the voice stepped out of the portal, and the whole thing vanished behind her. This was my first glimpse of a person from another world and I saw someone with pale green skin, pitch black eyes, and a staff in her hand and a crow on her shoulder. Her red nails were curled around the staff, they made a gentle tapping. The taps rang out once. Then she stopped.

"Who are you?" I asked uneasily, shifting closer to Riku. When she smiled at us, I tried to find something in it that seemed sinister, but all I found was amusement.

"My name is Maleficent," she told us, before again surveying us. I knew the moment she noticed how close I was to Riku, her eyes narrowed just a bit. Riku and I exchanged a glance.

"What's Hollow Bastion?" Riku asked. We both needed it to be validated, that we were actually in another world.

"_This_," she said, raising her arms wide and revealing the purple that accented the inside of her black robes, "is Hollow Bastion." Her arms lowered again and she fixed us with a smile that seemed…proud? Like she was impressed by us having found our way here. "Another world unlike the one you come from." I crossed my arms; my nerves were pushed over the edge.

"How do you know we come from another world?" Riku and I asked simultaneously. I quickly glanced over at him, but his eyes hadn't left the woman in front of him. The expression on her face became sympathetic as she looked at us, lost and scared in front of her.

"You are not the first travelers to find their way here after their worlds have been destroyed. It was the Heartless that swallowed your world and brought you here." She paused for a moment. "You two look quite exhausted." I realized she was right and I wanted nothing more than to fall into bed and sleep for days.

"Please," she said as another dark portal appeared next to her, "come stay in my castle…" She trailed off, looking at us expectantly.

"Riku."

"Natsumi," I said, catching on. She smiled at us.

"You're welcome to stay and regain your strength. Perhaps I will be able to help you return home." And with that, she vanished into the portal, expecting us to follow. Another glance exchanged, we decided silently to follow her, to trust her. He looked down at the wooden sword.

"Maybe she can help us find Sora and Kairi, too," he said, just before the portal closed around us.

Moments later, we stumbled out of the portal, disoriented from being unable to see as we made our way through the portal. Maleficent stood there, waiting for us. When we found our footing again, she gestured for us to follow her and then quickly set off. The castle was dark, rubble lay in some areas, and the carpet, which had surely once been a rich red, was now faded and scuffed. We followed Maleficent, down corridors and around corners until finally, we stopped in a section of the castle that seemed marginally better kept than the rest of the building.

"You can stay in these rooms until the time comes for you to return home." She tapped her staff on the ground and two doors opened, each housing an identical room. "Regain your strength, and then come see me. I'll be in the audience chamber. Just follow the way we came and you'll find it." Riku nodded and I knew this meant he remembered the way back. I nodded too. With that, she turned and began to walk away before stopping again.

"Oh, and I would prefer if you don't go exploring the castle. Even this place is not completely free of Heartless." Then she was gone.

"We'd better do as she says. You look like you're about to keel over," Riku told me.

"Feel like it too," I mumbled. He smiled at me and walked into his new bedroom. As he moved to shut the door, a sudden panic filled me.

"Riku," I said, pushing against the door so he couldn't shut it. "Can I stay in your room?" I looked down at the floor, scared and embarrassed, but knowing that I needed to stay with him for fear that he would disappear too.

"I just…" His eyes softened in understanding and he opened the door for me to enter.

"It'll be okay." He placed Sora's sword on the dresser and sat down on the bed to take his shoes off. I stood there for a moment, taking in the room. The carpet was a deep green, and the room was edged in wood trim. It gave the room a warm, earthy feeling and with a shuddering breath, I realized that it reminded me so much of home.

Years of friendship just barely made me comfortable enough with my crush to kick off my own shoes and slide onto the bed. The mattress was heavenly and I felt my body seemingly melt into it. I closed my eyes and reached tentatively for Riku. His hand found mine first, our fingers intertwining. I started to relax, comforted by the fact that Riku was still with me. His words echoed in my head and I started to believe him.

Standing in front of Maleficent, it was easy to forget the gentle bliss of waking up next to Riku. Being in her presence was a harsh reminder that we were far from home and without Sora and Kairi. Despite the reminder she caused, the woman was never anything but kind and sympathetic as we told her our tale.

She sat, looking troubled as we trailed off.

"I am sorry to hear of your friends," she said. She stood, once more revealing the purple flares in her robes. "And it would be my pleasure to help you find them." Her heels clacked as the stepped down from the throne and towards us. My heart soared and I thanked our good fortune that we happened upon someone kind and selfless.

"But I worry that you still need to recuperate from the attack you both survived."

"Please," I yelled, unable to stop myself, "Sora and Kairi are out there somewhere! We need to find them now!" She came closer and I worried that my outburst had been unspeakably rude and she would suddenly decide to rescind her help. I looked over at Riku, his face a bit surprised and a bit worried, as though he shared my fears.

She raised her hand near my face and I wasn't sure what to expect, but she merely brushed her fingers across my cheek and then held my chin with them. Her hold was gentle, but firm and there was something stern in her eyes that said it was in my best interests to listen to her. I swallowed with a faint dread, and did my best to hold her gaze.

"My dear, you really should respect your elders more. After all, I have so graciously offered to help you find your friends." She released my chin and the air that found my skin was unreasonably cold. I looked down at my feet, properly chastised.

"Yes ma'am."

"However, I am in need of assistance myself." I looked back up at her, relieved when I saw that any sign of irritation with me was gone. She turned her gaze to Riku instead and briefly rested her hand on his shoulder. "I hope you two will be able to help me, and in return I will be able to help you find your friends."

Riku nodded at her. "Anything we can do to help." Her lips curled up into a satisfied smile.

"I have no doubt you'll do splendidly. But for now, I do believe you still need to recover," she repeated. She turned and began to walk away from us. "I will come fetch you when the time is right." And she disappeared into darkness.

For a moment, Riku and I watched each other apprehensively; unsure of what to make of her abrupt and unsettling exits.

"You should be more careful of what you say to her." My mouth fell open. Riku was going to reprimand me?

"I just want to find Sora and Kairi!"

"I do too, but she's the only person who can help us." His voice rose a little in response.

"I know that, Riku." I paused and looked away from him. "I just don't feel right without them here." He sighed and his expression softened.

"I know what you mean. That's why we have to keep her happy. Do what she wants." He shrugged. "We'll find them in no time." I nodded at him, feeling a little better about the situation, but there was still a sliver of doubt in my mind.

Days passed, days spent wondering where Sora and Kairi were, if they were okay. When I wasn't thinking of them, I was thinking of Riku. We spent our time in his room, waiting for Maleficent to come find us again, speaking sparingly. After the first day I slept in my own room, but always found my way over to his. I still worried, perhaps irrationally, that he would suddenly be lost to me too. Yet every day there he was, always awake and alert long before I was. I wondered if now might be an appropriate time to confess to him, but it seemed selfish to think of myself when I didn't know if our friends were okay and I would be lying if I thought I had the courage to actually speak the words to him.

The routine of our days together was never broken, until somebody knocked three times on the door. We exchanged a glance and Riku went to answer it. In the days between when we had last seen Maleficent and when Riku opened the door, I had forgotten how startling her green skin could be. This was immediately offset by the smile she granted us with when she saw the both of us. From that smile I knew: The time was right.

I jumped off the bed before she could even start speaking.

"Come with me," she said, motioning for us to follow with her finger. We raced through the door after her, leaving it wide open in our haste. She led us through the corridors we had begun to memorize, but where we should have turned right for the audience room, she turned left instead.

Following her down this new corridor, I made note of the numerous doors on the walls on either side of us. Suddenly, the hallway opened up into an enormous room, which I guessed was the ballroom when the castle had actually been a castle and not just a home for wanderers. Maleficent stopped, raised her staff, and then brought it back down to the floor with a decisive thud. Two boxes appeared in front of her, both fairly long, but one substantially longer than the other.

"You may have noticed," she began, "that your wooden sword had no effect on the Heartless that attacked your island." I nodded at her.

"It was like it went right through them." I said.

"Very few things can affect them," she told us. Her voice sounded almost weary, as though she had personally counted the amount of weapons that could hold off the Heartless. "I had to make sure I would be able to procure both of you weapons with which to defend yourselves." With that, she gestured to the boxes and they opened at her command.

Inside rested the weapons she had gotten for us, the shorter one a sword in blue and red, shaped like a dragon's wing.

"The sword is for Riku." At this, he stepped forward and pulled it out of the box, testing the weight of it in his hand. I stepped closer as well, curious about what Maleficent had gotten for me. My curiosity quickly faded into confusion and disappointment as I took in my own weapon. It looked very much like Maleficent's staff, brown in color with an orb resting atop it, although this one was red.

She looked at me expectantly and I grabbed it from the box, realizing that it was much more intricate hers. The metal curved around the base of the orb in gently intricate spirals.

"These will defend you much better than a wooden plaything," she said. Riku nodded in agreement and waved his sword a few times; seeming as though he was already used to it.

"This is perfect," he said, looking back at Maleficent and then over at me. I was scared to say anything, not wanting to set her off the way I had earlier. Though I tried to hide it, the uneasiness seemed to show on my face, for she said, "Don't fret child. I will show you how to wield magic."

"But—"

"You have the potential for it," she said matter-of-factly and the compliment shut my mouth right away. I had potential for magic? I looked up at her and she smiled down at me like we shared a secret. I blushed; pleased that she thought I was worthy. Though I was okay on the islands with Riku and Sora always winning our fights when we played pirates, it felt nice to be the one singled out. Riku looked back and forth between us and the expression on his face sobered me.

"Thank you," I told Maleficent sincerely, clutching the staff in both hands and vowing to practice day and night with it so I wouldn't disappoint her.

She inclined her head in acceptance of my gratitude. "Now, Natsumi, I must speak to Riku alone for a moment." I nodded quickly, thinking nothing of her request, and began to walk away. "But don't go far, my child," she said to my back and I turned around quickly.

"Yes ma'am," I said and left the room.

I waited outside, holding my new staff up to the light. It was much heavier than the wooden swords we used to play battle with and I realized that I would have to learn how to fight in a completely different style. I held it in both hands and thrust the bottom of it forward, imagining it perfectly connecting with the head of one of those shadow Heartless. The image gave me pleasure and I wished I could have had this weapon back on the islands.

The staff was a bit shorter than Maleficent's too, short enough that I could twirl it in front of me, though I dropped it a few times, cringing at the sound it made on the floor. With relief, I learned that the staff was tougher than it looked—the meetings with the floor made no impression on it. I had just picked it up off the floor for the fourth time when Riku exited the room, empty handed.

"Where's your sword?" He looked at me with triumph on his face and it occurred to me that Maleficent had been teaching him tricks of his own.

"Waiting to be summoned," he told me. Before I could ask, he held out his hand and demonstrated what he meant. In a flash, his sword was back in his hand. Up close I could see what looked like a dragon's eye set into the hilt. My eyes widened in surprise.

"How did you do that?" He sent it away again, his hands as empty as when he had left the room.

"I just call for it. Maleficent taught me." His eyes moved to my staff as he said this and he surveyed it for a moment. "Speaking of, she's waiting to see you."

"Right," I said, remembering that she had told me of my potential for magic. The happy feeling returned and I gave him a small smile before I entered the room. Maleficent smiled at me and my first magic lesson began.

It was frustrating and lasted for hours and by the end I could only create a feeble fireball. I returned to my room, slightly disappointed by the fact that I couldn't summon my weapon like Riku but way too exhausted to do anything. It was half an hour into my lesson and I had begun to feel fatigue when Maleficent filled me in on how using magic took my own energy to create and will into the world. An hour into the lesson and I needed a break. An hour and a half and I was ready to quit, but Maleficent pushed me even harder until I was able to actually use a bit of magic.

I collapsed on my bed, releasing my staff to the floor and falling into a fitful sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

I fell on my back onto the floor with a gasp, just barely succeeding in dodging the attack Riku had aimed at me. Maleficent had insisted that we spar together, for a number of reasons that I didn't care about. It felt unfair, with me having just figured out how to cast a full fireball and a weak thunder attack, while Riku had essentially been training for this sword all his life. Nobody back home could beat him and while Maleficent assured us that this wasn't about who was better, I couldn't help but get angry over it.

I jumped back up and tried not to focus too much on my footwork. I realized that I had to keep Riku at long distance early on, and had the bruise to show for it. He also didn't have to deal with the fatigue of using magic. I had more stamina than I had during that first lesson, but it was still an issue.

Mustering up my energy I cast a lightning spell. It came straight down from the ceiling, but Riku just jumped back to avoid it. My frustration mounted higher, but then I noticed the round scorch mark I had caused. I gave it a surprised smile, pleased that my lightning spells were becoming stronger too, but the smile quickly vanished as Riku came at me again.

I held my staff in front of me defensively, realizing that at this point it would be useless to try any spells. I simply couldn't put any strength behind them, so I'd have to use just my staff to fight. Riku readied for the attack that may or may not knock my weapon completely from my hands.

"Enough," Maleficent's voice rang out through the ballroom. Relieved, I fell out of my defensive position and Riku maneuvered through his attack so that it gave me a wide berth. I couldn't help but be envious of his skill.

"This was an exercise for both of you to show the other what you are capable of. Together you should be more than ready for what lies ahead." Riku sent away his weapon in a burst of darkness while I held my staff the best I could with my aching arms. He looked over at me and our expressions were mirrored looks of confusion

"What lies ahead?" he echoed. Maleficent's fingers curled around her staff and the raven on her shoulder ruffled its feathers.

"Naturally, the Heartless may impede you on your search, but you may come across other adversaries as well." Her words made me uneasy and I wondered what could be worse than the Heartless, but couldn't bring myself to ask the question.

"When will we be able to start looking for them?" I asked instead.

"You may leave today. All your supplies have already been gathered. Come." She turned, her robes billowing out around her. The raven hopped off her shoulder and flew down the corridor ahead of her. We followed her as she revealed yet more of the castle to us and I wondered if the day would come when we would know all of its hallways and rooms. Our walk through the castle led us to what I thought was safe to assume was the very back of the structure.

Suddenly we were outside and standing in front of a great rocket. My eyes widened and my fingers clenched tightly around my staff.

"This will be your transportation for as long as you need it," she told us. I tore my eyes away from the ship and looked back at her. In the sunlight, her green skin was even more apparent, but the light also defined her high cheekbones. Looks were deceiving, I reminded myself. Maleficent had been nothing but kind to us.

"This will take us to other worlds?" Riku asked skeptically, examining the vehicle. I wanted to remind him that he was the one who thought a raft would get the four of us to other worlds.

"Indeed." Maleficent's pleased expression at our reaction to the ship faded and turned to worry. "However," she laid a hand on Riku's shoulder and then mine, "I do not wish you to be heartbroken if it happens your friend has gained new companions."

I couldn't help laughing out loud at this and Riku gave a little smirk as well.

"Sora wouldn't do that," I said brightly. "He'll look for us as long as it takes." She smiled indulgently at me, although it seemed as though there was a sharp edge to the expression.

"I do hope you're right, my child."

A few hours later we sat in the gummi ship, Riku at the navigation, much to my chagrin. When I'd laid eyes on it earlier I had been immediately consumed by daydreams of myself driving the ship, but Riku had other plans. I kept looking at him out of the corner of my eye. He already seemed at ease at the controls, dodging around meteors and the occasional Heartless. After a brief lesson from Maleficent, she had waved goodbye to us and we rocketed off into space in search of Sora and Kairi.

So far, we'd only seen Heartless and never ending floating space matter. As time passed, the enormity of our journey began to set in. How were we ever supposed to find our friends in this vast universe?

"Hey, Riku?"

"Yeah?" he answered, never looking away from the window as he steered the ship.

"How many other worlds do you think are out here?" I pulled my feet up onto my chair and hugged my knees close to my chest.

"I don't know." He gave a little shrug. "Why?"

"Just because we haven't seen any yet. How many can there really be?" He looked over at me for a split second and then returned his attention to driving.

"When we find Sora and Kairi, we'll find out how many." I smiled at him, giddy at the prospect of finally being able to set off with the three of them to travel the worlds as we'd wanted to for as long as I could remember.

We sat in silence after that, and I felt my strength returning. Becoming fatigued by magic use was something I had never expected when we began building the raft. Suddenly, I sat up straighter, not sure if I had seen something or if my eyes were playing tricks on me.

"There!" I jumped up as close as I could get to the glass of the window and pointed. I looked back at Riku, smiling widely before looking back out the window. I didn't want to let this first glimpse of another world slip away from me. From a distance, all I could see was a blur of pink and green. We pulled closer and closer and it brought into view one large forest and a clearing.

Riku steered the ship closer to this clearing, but right before we landed he realized that the clearing wasn't actually clear. He yanked the wheel as far as it could go to the left. With the sudden movement I lost my footing and fell to the ground, arms flailing for anything to grab onto. The gummi ship jerked and shuddered and came to a complete stop.

"Natsumi," Riku called into the silence.

"I'm okay." I sat up slowly, rubbing my head. "Is the ship okay?" He paused for a moment, taking in all the gauges and the few things that had fallen across the floor with me.

"I think so," he said uncertainly. I picked up my staff and walked across the ship to him, annoyed that Maleficent thought sending two teenagers off into space with no knowledge of space craft was a good idea. With a frown, Riku pressed a button on the console and the door of the ship opened and the ladder descended.

Our first steps onto our second new world were taken together. The grass underneath our feet was just like any we would find on Destiny Islands, green and lush, if a little unkempt. We walked around the table—which was the object Riku had swerved to avoid—and surveyed it. It looked as though it was set for a party, with various china cups, plates, and teapots lay out upon it.

"The tea, the tea!" A brown and red blur rushed past us and to the table, hands fluttering wildly over the settings. The person turned around abruptly and glared at us. I clamped my hand against my mouth to stifle a gasp; in front of us stood a rabbit, clad in a red coat and standing on two feet.

"You nearly ruined the party! What kind of person tries to destroy tea?" he shouted at us.

"It was an accident," Riku tried to explain as something knocked into his side and sent him falling against me. I steadied him the best I could.

"We thought this was a clearing," I added, watching as the second figure, a man this time, waddled around the table, checking each of the table settings.

"Of course this isn't a clearing, it's our tea party garden," the rabbit informed us haughtily, sticking his nose up in the air.

"Though it appears nothing is damaged," the man told his animal companion. The rabbit looked back at him, his anger disappearing some.

"We're sorry," I said. "It won't happen again."

"You make sure it doesn't," the rabbit nodded at us and walked over to the table where he stood with his friend and conversed quietly. I looked over at Riku.

"Do you think they've seen Sora and Kairi?"

"Can't hurt to ask," he said. He stood up straighter and raised his voice.

"Hey." The two looked up at him. "Have you seen two people come through here? About our age, a boy and a girl." They looked at each other thoughtfully and then back at us.

"You must join us for tea!" The rabbit exclaimed and they both raced around opposite sides of the table towards us. The man grabbed my hands and the rabbit grabbed Riku and they pulled us over to the table and forced us into chairs.

"No, we don't have time—" Riku started.

"Sugar?" The rabbit thrust the sugar bowl at him as the man poured tea for him out of a large yellow teapot.

"No—" he said, and the two turned towards me.

"You must have a cup of tea," the man insisted, already pouring a cup for me from a different teapot.

"We just want to find our friends," I said. The rabbit turned from where he was dunking a saucer into his teacup. His nose twitched and he screamed, "Clean cup, clean cup, move down!" And the two of them pushed us down the table like a game of musical chairs. They seemed to calm somewhat after we switched chairs and began to settle in with their own cups of tea.

"Our friends," Riku tried again. "A boy and a girl, have you seen them?"

"Is it their un-birthday?" the rabbit asked, adding sugar to a whole teapot and deftly shaking it so that not a drop was spilled.

"Um…" Riku and I looked at each other, confused, though neither of us dared to ask what an un-birthday was.

"Yes," I said quickly.

"It is?" the rabbit and man asked in unison, glee evident in their voices. They stood up quickly.

"Well if that is the case, you must go and find them!" The rabbit pulled me up from my chair and began pushing me toward the garden gate.

"And bring them back for the un-birthday party!" The man shoved Riku out after me. We turned back towards the garden as the pair ran away from us.

"Wait," Riku shouted.

"You didn't tell us if you saw them," I called futilely; they just ignored us and ran back to the table where they toasted each other and resumed their festivities.

"Well that was pointless…" We looked at each other again and turned towards the forest. With an unspoken agreement we set off into the darkness. We walked silently; wary of what other kind of people inhabited this world after our run in with the partiers. The occasional crowing of a bird I knew we didn't have on the islands followed us and I wondered if perhaps Maleficent's raven had followed us into this world.

As we wandered through the forest it became darker and darker until I could barely see Riku next to me. Our way was unimpeded, except for the gaggle of strange horn shaped creatures that passed in front of us and disappeared into the trees. Moments later we heard a splash come from the direction they went. Several times we came to places where the path split. Each time we took a path at random until I became certain we were lost.

"Riku…We're lost." I looked at him and could just make out the frown on his face.

"We should keep going," he said determinedly. He continued walking and I hurried after him. I was just about to say something else when the forest suddenly lightened and we emerged in a giant half clearing. The area was split into sections by grass far taller than it should be and lily pads grew out of the sides of the giant trees.

Riku, however, seemed unfazed by this new development. He walked through the clearing and over to a space between the grass. The way the stalks bent made it look as though it formed a doorway. I watched as his eyes widened and he looked back at me. He motioned me over and I hurried towards him and peeked through the doorway. My eyes widened as well and I faced him.

"There's—" I began to say, but stopped when I saw what was behind him. He whirled around and looked where I pointed and then looked back at me.

The cat grinned widely at us, its bushy purple striped tail swaying against the tree branch he laid on.

"Looking for something?" Riku and I jumped back, Riku's sword appearing in a flash of light. I held my staff in front of me, the orb at its top glowing dimly with the energy I was preparing to create a spell with.

"You can speak!" Riku pointed his sword at the cat, whose grin stretched impossibly wider.

"And sing, too," it said and proceeded to do so.

"But you're a cat," I protested, although as I said it, I realized how aware Maleficent's raven seemed, aware beyond its intelligence. Why shouldn't there somewhere be a cat that could speak and sing and hold conversations?

"A Cheshire Cat," it clarified. It stood up on its back legs and hopped across the tree branch, coming closer to us. "You look as though you have…lost something." Its tone was amused as I watched it uncertainly.

"We have," I told it. In my peripheral vision I saw Riku look at me sharply, and I gave him a miniscule shrug in return. "We're looking for our friends, a boy and a girl," I said, motioning with my hand their general heights.

"Oh yes, I've seen them."

"You have?" Riku exclaimed, his irritation at me disappearing in his delight.

"Have what?" it asked, eyes wide and bewildered.

"Seen them," Riku said. We watched in stunned silence as the cat nonchalantly yanked its head off its shoulders and balanced on top of it with one foot. I took a wary step back, trying to quell my nausea.

"Seen who?" My response became lost in my mouth as I watched the cat's head roll slightly beneath its foot. I could focus on nothing but how unnatural it was, how this cat could not exist. Riku pulled himself together faster than I could.

"Our friends," he replied, irritation back. I looked at him and wondered how he could say anything at all to the cat.

"Oh yes, the shadows came for them." As the cat said it, his eyes darted back and forth, like he was waiting for the so called shadows to appear and come for the three of us, too.

"What shadows?" we asked at the same time, and I knew we were thinking the same thing. The Heartless had been to this world. The Cheshire Cat grinned, and I had the sinking suspicion that we had finally asked it the right question. It bounced its head up into the air and it landed back on the cat's shoulders.

"The shadows that took that poor girl, stole her right from this world!" It feigned melodrama. I wondered if it was just trying to mess with us, as everything else seemed fond of doing lately.

"And the boy?" Riku asked softly, like he was afraid of knowing the answer.

"Oh, he's gone too," the Cheshire Cat said and before our eyes he began to fade from sight.

"Wait!" I called desperately, but it was too late. The cat disappeared, leaving only the hint of a song behind him, "…and the momewraths outgrabe…"

"The shadows." Riku and I looked at each other. There was only one thing the cat could mean.

"It has to be the Heartless," he said. I nodded at him and thought about what this meant. The realization was too horrible to say aloud. We stood there in silence, and I tried to pull myself together. The Cheshire Cat hadn't told us much, just enough that we both knew no good would come from continuing to search this world. In nonverbal agreement we went through the door we had been looking through when the cat first appeared.

The giant room we entered was furnished with a fireplace and a tall glass table with only one chair. We crossed the room and approached a door, which was oddly the perfect size for us to go through. Riku reached out to open the door and as he turned the handle, instead of opening, the door let out a yelp.

"Do you mind?" The doorknob opened its eyes opened blearily and then glared at us. "I'm trying to sleep."

"You've got to be kidding me," I said in exasperation. There really was no end to the strange things that inhabited this world.

"Certainly not," the doorknob replied, and then yawned widely. "I've got little else to do."

"I can imagine," Riku said wryly.

"Can you let us through?" I asked, hoping that Riku's comment hadn't upset it so much it wouldn't let us pass.

"If I do will you let me sleep?" it retorted.

"Yes." The doorknob pondered this for a moment, looking at the both of us. In the end, it sighed, agreed, and swung open for us to pass. We walked through quickly before it could change its mind.

"Thanks," I told it. I was truly grateful to the only thing that had been helpful all day. It mumbled something that I couldn't hear before it swung shut again. Riku and I walked through a hedge archway and suddenly, our gummi ship came into view. Relief filled me and I looked over at Riku.

"We must have gone in a circle," he said and began to walk towards the ship. I followed him and we boarded the ship. I sat down as he started the engines and felt still more relief when they started without a fuss. The ship shot up into space and soon, the world we had just visited was left behind and I couldn't distinguish it from the stars around it.

"Glad that's over…" I looked up at Riku. He took his eyes momentarily from where he was driving to look at me.

"It was a waste of time," he said, a bit of annoyance in his voice. The weapons of the ship fired and destroyed the group of Heartless that came at us. I thought about the encounters we had in that world and remembered what the Cheshire Cat had said.

"We learned one thing," I said slowly. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eyes. "Sora and Kairi aren't there." At this, some of the tension lifted from his shoulders. Neither of us gave voice to the "but" tacked on at the end of the sentence.


End file.
